Mirage is a 2018 mystery-drama film co-written and directed by Oriol Paulo and starring Adriana Ugarte. The movie was released in Spain in 2018 and worldwide, through Netflix, on March 22, 2019.
Plot
In 1989, during the fall of the Berlin Wall and a 72-hour-long electrical storm, a boy named Nico, while recording a video in his house, hears some noises and sees a fight scene in his neighbor's house through a window. He goes to the house only to find a body of Miss Weiss, the wife of the house-owner Angel Prieto. Seeing Mr. Prieto with a knife, Nico tries to escape and is accidentally hit by a caron the road. Prieto is arrested with the murder weapon in hand as Nico dies in the car accident. In 2014, a married couple, Vera Roy and David Ortiz, move to Nico's house along with their daughter Gloria. They find an old TV set in a storeroom along with a Video Recorder and Cassettes. An electrical storm similar to 1989's comes and after Vera, David, and Gloria watch Nico's video, the TV starts broadcasting the live news that was taking place when Nico was making his video. During dinner, they share this incident with the neighbor Victor and his mother Clara where Vera and David come to know how Nico got killed. At night, Vera sees the boy on the TV and is shocked to find that she can interact with him. She initially gets scared but then tries to warn Nico not to go out on the road so he does not get hit. Next morning, Vera wakes up to a new reality where no one is aware of the above incidents other than her. David is married to someone else. Gloria was never born. She is disturbed and then starts thinking if she can interact with Nico once again then she would be able to correct what she has done wrong. She visits the police and tells them the entire story which is difficult for anyone to believe in. Inspector Leyra tries to help her out but he needs some proof which can make him trust her. They visit an author of the book which mentioned about Nico communicating with a woman from the future via television. They come to know that during the current storm, they can communicate with Nico and try to change things. To give a proof, Vera tells the inspector to dig and look for the body of Ms. Weiss beneath the butcher house. They do so and find a body skeleton in a suitcase. The police arrest Prieto who is now living with Victor and Clara. During the interrogation, it is also revealed that Angel Prieto and Clara were having an affair and they were caught by Ms. Weiss which led to a fight and Clara accidentally stabbed Weiss in the hustle. Inspector Leyra helps Vera by giving her some credit card information about Nico and an address. When she visits the given place, she is shocked to find David cheating on his wife with a nurse to whom he met during his surgery. Vera blackmails David, who is a bank employee, for getting information about Nico. She is surprised to find that Inspector Leyra is Nico Lacarte who is in a relationship with her in this reality. Leyra tells her how he prevented her to meet David and Aitor so that he could be with her. Vera requests Leyra to correct the events by using the TV set and video recorder. Vera then commits suicide asking Leyra to save her. Leyra uses the TV and recorder to communicate with his childhood self. Vera then wakes up to an earlier version of reality where David is her husband and Gloria is her daughter. She finds out that David is still cheating on her. She calls the police to report a body beneath the butcher-house where she meets Inspector Leyra hoping to start a new relationship with him along with her daughter.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Mirage has an approval rating of 75% based on 8 reviews. Jonathan Holland from The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Mirage has a great deal of satisfying complexity but little depth, and its dazzling, intricate machinery is always visible. But it still makes for a fun ride on a highly calibrated roller coaster." Pablo A. Scholz writing for the newspaper Clarín stated: "Maybe the duration is excessive, but the viewer will remain entertained. Janire Zurbano from the Spanish film magazine Cinemanía gave the movie only 2 and half stars out of five and said: " Oriol Paulo succeeds in the emotional aspect, but slips in the thriller." Luis Martínez from Spanish newspaper El Mundo gave "Mirage" three out of five stars, concluding: "Beyond the exquisite labyrinth of lost looks, we can always be attentive Adriana Ugarte's work, who is always at the edge." Javier Ocaña writing for El País disliked the movie and argued: "Oriol Paulo composes a commercial thriller of intrigue, of Hitchcockian airs, but that for his plot drinks of films of the contemporary cinema. At the 2019 Gaudí Awards, Mirage was nominated for two awards, "Best Actress in a Supporting Role" and "Best Visual Effects", but lost both.
